Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lubricant application device that applies a lubricant agent to the surface of a lubricant-applied member such as an image bearing member, and further relates to a cleaning device and an image forming apparatus that includes the lubricant application device.
Description of the Related Art
In an image forming apparatus, an electrostatic latent image is formed by exposing a charged photoreceptor based on image data, and the electrostatic latent image is developed as a toner image by applying a developer (toner) to the photoreceptor. This toner image is then transferred onto a recording medium such as a paper sheet, and the paper sheet having the toner image transferred thereon is heated and pressed by a fixing roller. In this manner, the toner image is fixed onto the paper sheet.
Such an image forming apparatus includes a cleaning device that uses a cleaning blade to remove toner (residual toner) remaining on the surface of an image bearing member such as a photoreceptor or an intermediate transfer belt. So as to protect the surface of the image bearing member and reduce friction between the image bearing member and the cleaning blade, a lubricant application device for applying a lubricant agent to the surface of the image bearing member is normally incorporated into such a cleaning device (see JP 2011-170155 A, JP 2000-242135 A, and JP 2010-156778 A).
JP 2011-170155 A discloses a technique for increasing efficiency of lubricant agent application to an image bearing member by providing a flicking member that is brought into contact with a lubricant application brush and flicks off the lubricant agent in a cleaning device.
In a cleaning device that includes a lubricant application device, the cleaning properties and the blade abrasion rate vary with amounts of applied lubricant agent. Therefore, there is a demand for uniform application of a lubricant agent onto the surface of a lubricant-applied member such as an image bearing member.